A well-designed planning process is one of the founding stones of efficient urban governance. Especially due to recent developments in planning theory leading to the predominance of strategic planning, the connection between planning practice and urban governance has become more important than ever.

In this context, efficient urban governance requires a comprehensive understanding of the planning process. My previous researches point out that a well defined and executed Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) process is the key to establishing a good working relation between planning practice and urban governance and that implementation process and planning approaches differ in developing and developed countries.

The planning process in developed countries consists of plan preparation, implementation, M&E, and revision. Whereas in developing countries, plan preparation and implementation is seen as a purely technical work and is rarely followed by a well-designed M&E practice. Thus, connection between planning and governance is weakened at the implementation. This leads to a bi-polarity in urban governance ability between developing and developed countries, to the favour of the latter. Most importantly this governability deficit is not visible to planners and governors, therefore is not being remedied at the local level.

*Urban Thinkers Campus, The City We Need “City As a Service” Palermo, Italy, 8-10 Oct 2015